Jesus Health Care

the way. the truth. the life.

Jesus Health Care Plan - Have we lost our focus?

An editorial by George Barna (slightly modified)
September 2009

"You can't turn on the TV, listen to radio or read a newspaper without confronting some information about the raging debate on health care.
Surveys continue to show that Americans are not well-informed on the issue and are struggling to figure out who is telling the truth about
existing needs, the financial implications of the policies under consideration, and how they will personally be affected.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Because so much of the debate relates to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged, Americans are playing this one a bit more cautiously than
usual. Most adults define themselves as living a middle-class life, and believe their levels of comfort are a direct result of their own hard
work and diligence. As politicians plead their case regarding health care provisions, citizens are conflicted, vacillating between a hard-line
stance that expects others to work as hard as they have to get good health care and showing some compassion toward those who are less fortunate.

Views of Poverty in Jesus Health Care Plan

Our surveys underscore the fact that about three-quarters of all adults believe poverty is one of the most serious issues facing the nation.
Even more significantly, most Americans also contend that when it comes to alleviating poverty, that's mainly the government's responsibility.
Two-thirds of adults look to the government to solve issues related to poverty - including health care deficiencies. Just one out of every five
adults believes that solving poverty is an individual duty, and a mere one out of 25 people assigns that task to non-profit organizations, and
another one in 25 assigns it to churches.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

As we assess how individuals deal with poverty on a personal level, we find that Americans do get involved, but in a kind of arms-length manner.
For instance, the most common responses are for people to give money, food, and clothing to someone else to get the job done. In contrast, the
most personal responses are the least common. Relatively few Americans talk directly with the needy, tutor them, build homes for them, visit
them, befriend them, or engage in other types of personal activities to address the issue.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

One might say, then, that we mean well but we're too busy, too disinterested, or feel too inadequate to actually address poverty personally,
head-on. Given that mind set, it's no wonder that the current health care debate centers not on what every American can personally do to help
alleviate human suffering, but on how we can get the government to provide a more efficient alternative that will neither break the bank nor
hinder our lifestyle.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

In essence, what Americans seem to want is increased government services, more efficient delivery of services, no increase in taxes, and no
personal involvement in the process. In a nutshell, our argument is: it's not my fault and it's not my job, so let the paid professionals deal
with it.

Jesus the Healer in His own Health Care Plan

Given the fact that devout Christians mirror these attitudes, it raises the question of what a Christian's obligation to the poor is in the
matter of health care. Should Christians feel comfortable accepting the "let the government handle it" philosophy?

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

If a Christian were to turn to the Bible for guidance in these matters, a simple read through the gospel according to Luke would provide
some answers. Luke, the author of the third gospel account in the New Testament, was a physician and would have been especially sensitive
to how Jesus dealt with people's medical needs.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

In fact, Luke's narrative contains 26 different passages describing how Jesus responded to people's physical and medical needs. The book
shows that Jesus healed hundreds of people. But it also gives us some consistent patterns from Jesus' ministry to the poor and suffering people
He encountered that we might use as principles to guide our personal responses to today's health care challenges.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

There were at least seven noteworthy perspectives that underlie Jesus' health care strategy in His health care plan.

1. Jesus healed people because He believed that good health matters. People with serious medical challenges lack hope - and people without
hope have no reason to keep living. Since life is a precious gift from God, and He wants people to enjoy and celebrate life, as well as the
God who gave it to them, restoring health was a viable means to an end. Whenever He had the opportunity to do so, He healed people and sent
them on their way.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

2. Jesus invested Himself in their healing because He loved and cared for people. In Luke 7:13 we read that "His heart overflowed with
compassion" for those people. He did not heal them because it showed His power or grabbed attention as much as He healed them because He felt
their pain and knew their desolation. Healing was a practical demonstration that God was not wrathful but graceful.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

3. Jesus healed everyone who presented a medical need because He saw no reason to screen some out as unqualified. Whether He knew them or
not, He helped them. Whether they supported Him or not, He helped them. Whether they were adherents of His faith or not, He helped them.
He did not set up conditions and hoops in order for people to qualify. He just healed them because He could.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

4. Jesus healed every kind of illness He encountered. No malady was too simple (such as a fever) or too complex (including paralysis, leprosy,
and demonization). He even took on the impossible - death - and raised people from the dead on three separate occasions!

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

5. Jesus pursued them because He saw Himself as a servant. A servant does what he can to address the needs of those being served, whether the
needy one comes to the servant or the servant must go to the needy. Jesus did not get caught up in the ego games of who should pursue who;
when He saw a need He went out of His way to address it.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

6. Jesus allowed them to disrupt His schedule because He realized that people's pain and suffering was their top focus in life. Because the
main value in His life was giving love, things like remaining on schedule, following His pre-determined agenda, maintaining orderliness and
predictability all took a back seat to the chance to affect other people’s lives with genuine love.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

7. Jesus expected His closest followers to heal others. The needs of the people were substantial and providing a healing touch grabbed people's
attention so they could see Him for who He was and what His message to them was. Consequently, Jesus included healing in the marching orders
He gave to not only the 12 apostles, but to another group of 72 disciples that He had been mentoring in the ways of grace. (Luke 9:1; 10: 1,
9, 17)

Jesus Health Care Strategy in His Health care plan.

In short, Jesus Christ showed us that anyone who follows Him is expected to address the most pressing needs of others. You can describe Jesus'
health care strategy in four words: whoever, whatever, whenever, wherever. Whoever needed to be healed received His healing touch. Whatever
affliction they suffered from, He addressed it. Whenever the opportunity to heal arose, He seized it. Wherever they happened to be, He took
care of it.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Contrast the Jesus model with the preferred American model. The latter might be described as deciding to throw some money at the problem -
but not too much - so that somebody else can do what needs to be done, for those who qualify, in a manner that does not inconvenience us.
The former approach was the whoever, whatever, whenever, wherever strategy.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

It’s quite a contrast, isn't it?

The Underlying Foundation in Jesus Health Care Plan

Don't overlook the fact that Jesus called on His followers to personally attend to the health care needs of the poor and disenfranchised.
Not only did Jesus model healing for His followers, but He supported such outreach with ample philosophical underpinnings. You see Him
teaching His followers before, during and after instances of healing. We are familiar with the principles, but perhaps not their application
to health needs.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Do to others what you would like them to do to you (Luke 7:31). Jesus asked His followers to see themselves in the people who yearned for a
healing touch and to respond accordingly. Although He was mocked and opposed for His efforts to heal, such opposition never stopped Him from
treating others as we would want to be treated.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Produce results (or, in biblical language, bear fruit) (Luke 6:43-45). These days, we might think of His teaching as admonishing His
followers to not pass the buck. He reminded them they had been given gifts and resources so that they could affect reality. He warned
them against simply discussing solutions and instructed them to conceive and implement solutions.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Do whatever it takes to love God and all people with your heart, mind, strength and soul (Luke 4:8, 6:27-36). Jesus used love as a verb,
not an adjective. He exhorted His followers to prove their love by doing compassionate things for those in need. Jesus showed them what was
important by focusing on the act of giving, rather than receiving. Often, those whom He healed did not thank Him, and He was never paid for
his medical care - but He healed them regardless, because it enabled Him to love those who lacked hope.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Always try to do the will of God (Luke 12:29-31). Your life is not about what you want; to be a follower of Jesus your desires should match
God's. The way we demonstrate that we understand this principle is by allowing God to change your heart, and by following His plan.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

A Personal Challenge for you to join Jesus Health Care Plan.

So, if Jesus went to such lengths to put feet on His health care strategy, what is yours? He did not seem inclined to wait for the government
to provide for the poor. His strategy called for people to help people, through the power and ability that He entrusted to His followers. One
must wonder if the American preference for government programs is the best solution to the existing needs - and if a nation where 83% of adults
label themselves "Christian" can blend that religious connection with a desire for state-based solutions.

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

Government clearly has a role in people's lives; the Bible supports its existence and circumscribed functions. It is unfortunate that when
God's people, collectively known as the Church, fail to exhibit the compassion and service that He has called us to provide, we are
comfortable with the government acting as a national safety net. In a society that has become increasingly self-centered and self-indulgent,
we simply expand our reliance upon the government to provide solutions and services that are the responsibility of Christ followers. Some
Christians have heeded the call, as evidenced by the medical clinics, pregnancy centers and even hospitals across the nation that were
initiated and funded by small numbers of dedicated believers who grasped this responsibility. Imagine what an impact the Church would have
on society if it truly reflected the model Jesus gave us of how to care for one another!

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

As we think about the elements embedded in the national debate, perhaps each of us should be asking ourselves a few simple questions. What
kinds of people within your realm of influence need health care assistance - and how do you respond? How do you figure out who to help - and
who to serve them in partnership with? How do you decide when and how often to invest yourself in helping poor people who have health needs?
What limitations do you place on the kind of health care assistance you offer to the needy? What gifts, talents, and resources can you be more
aggressive at applying to the health care needs of the poor?

Jesus Health Care Plan - An Eternal Solution

I don't know what God is asking or preparing you to do in relation to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged. All I know is that we have been
told to imitate Christ, and His health care strategy is whoever, whatever, whenever, wherever."